Mate Trouble
by KathrynRose916
Summary: What happens when Natsu realizes he's in love with Gray? Before he gains the courage to tell him, something happens. Gajeel announces that he's in a relationship with Gray! What will happen to Natsu? I do not own Fairy Tail. I do not own the picture.
1. Realizations

Natsu sighed as he walked into the guild hall. He'd been slowly falling in love with Gray, of all people. He didn't realize it until a couple of nights ago, though. He could sense the ice mage as soon as he walked through the doors. He could smell that scent of pine mixed with a subtle minty freshness. He longed to hug the mage to him and just hold him. When he looked over to him, his heart started to race a little bit. He fought the small blush that wanted to rise on his cheeks.

"What's the matter, Natsu?" Mira asked, eyes filled with worry. It wasn't often that Natsu came into the guild without a smile. Natsu shook his head and forced a smile to show.

"Nothing. I'm just tired," he lied. He let his head fall onto the worn wood in front of him. He heard Mira leave and go into the kitchen. He released another sigh before he heard Mira's light footsteps coming back. His perked up at the sound of crackling fire. His head came up slowly to see Mira holding a plate of flaming chicken.

"I hope this will help," she replied. He could see in her eyes that she didn't believe him. He only gave a sad smile in return. He started eating the flaming chicken slowly. He was almost done when Gajeel stood on a table.

"Hey! I have an announcement. Gray is my boyfriend," he said. Natsu choked on the flames he had been trying to eat as everyone around him cheered for the new couple. Mira reached over the counter and patted Natsu's back, trying to help the fire dragon.

"Thanks Mira," he said quietly when he could talk again. Mira heard the tone of his voice and sighed. She knew now what was wrong, but didn't say anything.

Natsu stood up and left the guild, thinking no one but Mira saw him. He didn't see Gray frown in his direction.

The flame dragon was fighting back tears as he left the loud guild behind. He went into the woods and punched a tree in his grief. It fell over with a loud crash, almost falling into the guild's backyard. All sound stopped in the guild and Natsu's eyes widened. He took off at a silent sprint and didn't stop until he came to a small river. He finally let out the tears, body shaking.

~O~

Back at the guild, at least half them went to see what had happened. When they saw the tree, they frowned. Gray was confused. What could've knocked the tree down?

Gajeel seemed to be the only one that noticed the small scorch mark near the bottom. He gritted his teeth in frustration. He knew Natsu must've been upset at something. He didn't know what though. It wasn't until he heard Mira mutter under her breath, thinking no one heard her. "Oh, Natsu. Why didn't you just tell him?"

Gajeel's eyes widened. Tell him? Tell who what?

~O~

Natsu was missing the next day in the guild. No one but Mira noticed it. When he showed up the day after, he grabbed a mission off the wall and left after showing Mira. He didn't even take Happy with him.

Happy was worried. Natsu didn't seem okay. He seemed really sad. Happy plopped down on a table where the other exceeds and the rest of the group were sitting.

"What's wrong Happy?" Lilly asked, walking up next to the blue feline. Happy sniffed before answering.

"It's Natsu," he said, not going any further. This caught Gajeel's attention.

"What's wrong with Natsu?" the black feline responded. Happy shrugged.

"I don't know. He seemed so sad yesterday. He just went on a mission and didn't even say a word to me," Happy said. Lilly frowned, but didn't say anything. Instead he just put a paw on Happy's head in comfort.

Gajeel didn't understand. What was so wrong with Natsu, that he'd forget Happy? He looked over to see the others chatting away as if they never noticed. FInally he noticed bunnygirl look around.

"Where's Natsu?" she asked, head tilting in curiosity.

"What do you mean?" Gray asked. Lucy hummed in worry.

"I haven't seen him in a couple days," she responded. Gray frowned. That was very unlike the fire dragon. But he shook it off.

"I'm sure that flamebrain will be alright," Gray said. "He doesn't need us to hold his hand."

~O~

Natsu dodged the monster, but was once again too slow. He had been fighting this thing for awhile now. It never usually took him this long to defeat a monster. He flew back and felt his spine hit the trunk of a tree. He grunted in pain before standing up. He ran towards the monster with a flaming fist. He put all the remaining strength he had left into his punch. It seemed to be enough this time, as the monster flew back and landed on his back. It was knocked out.

The flame dragon let out a breath when he could finally go back to the town. He received payment from the worried client. He waved off any concern and headed home. He saw himself in a reflection. He looked a little worse for wear. He had a nasty black eye, his chest was scratched to hell from the monster's claws, and when he turned around he saw that his back was one big black and blue through his tattered shirt.

He didn't care. He could deal with the pain. Truth be told, it took his mind off of a certain ice mage. If only for a few moments.

The trek home wasn't as long as he wanted it to be, but oh well. He walked into the guild to inform Mira that he had completed his mission. Mira gasped once she saw the state the boy was in. It was a simple monster, and she knew it shouldn't have been a problem for him.

"What happened?" she asked. Natsu shook his head.

"I'm fine," he responded, avoiding the question. No one else seemed to notice that the fire dragon had come back. Well, that wasn't true. Gajeel's nose twitched when the scent of a crackling fire reached his nose. Looking over, his eyes widened. Natsu looked like he had been put through the ringer and back. He saw the boy give Mira a tired smile and walk back out the door.

What had happened to the other?

~O~


	2. Letting Go

Time passed. Gajeel watched Natsu go through the same routine every day. He'd come to the guild hall, only to take a mission from the wall and disappeared for the day. Sometimes he came back battered and bruised, other times he was completely fine. It worried the other. The other dragon child was slowly falling apart and the metal dragon didn't know why.

Natsu himself was falling apart on the inside, quite literally. He stopped eating for the most part, as he just didn't have an appetite anymore. He could feel his insides groaning in protest. Doing missions everyday was also taking a toll on his body. He barely slept at night anymore, only to get up and go on another mission. He didn't know how much time had passed.

His heart still ached for Gray. His whole body craved the other's touch, innocently and not. He didn't know what to do. He sighed as he walked into the guild to pick another mission. One of them caught his eye. It asked for help up in the snowy mountains. He knew it was a bad idea. His flames had started to die, and his magic wasn't working the same as a result. But he took it anyways.

"Natsu, are you sure you can do this?" Mira asked in concern. Natsu rolled his eyes, trying to give a smile. It was strained slightly, but it was there. Even if it was fake.

"I'll be fine. The cold has never bothered me before!" he declared. Mira sighed.

"Alright, just be careful. Please," Mira said. Natsu simply nodded before heading out once more. Before he left, he saw Gajeel and Gray out of the corner of his eye. They were making out in a dark corner. Gajeel caught his eye just as a tear managed to slip out of Natsu's serpentine eye. Gajeel broke away from Gray, eyes widening. Before the metal dragon could say anything, Natsu was gone.

"Damn," Gajeel muttered. Gray frowned and looked to the door. But he only saw them swinging shut.

"What happened?" he asked. Gajeel shook his head, ignoring his boyfriend for now. He got up and walked up to Wendy.

"We have a problem."

~O~

Natsu was shivering violently as he traversed through the blizzard. He could feel the cold seep into his very being. The cold had never bothered him before, but now it seemed to be his enemy. He had to finish this mission though. Someone had gotten lost in the mountains and the request had asked for help finding this person. The more time he spent in this blizzard, the more he could feel his magic starting to freeze slowly. He ignored it though. The mind-numbing pain actually felt good. It didn't take him long before he found the person. He scolded the boy for going into the mountains alone in the first place.

"I-I'm sorry," the boy cried. Natsu sighed.

"Just hop on my back. I'll get you home," Natsu said, crouching down. The boy sniffled and nodded before climbing onto the fire dragon's back. It took him a half-hour to make his way back. He fought the shivering as he delivered the boy home. The mother ran out the house to hug her son to her.

"Oh thank you! What can I do to repay you?" she asked. Natsu smiled sadly.

"Can you contact my guild and let them know I'm done with the mission? But I forgot something, so I have to go back up," Natsu said. The mother frowned in worry.

"Are you sure? It's a blizzard up there," she said, concern coating her voice. Natsu gave a small, but sad smile.

"I'll be fine, ma'am," he responded, before walking off once more. The women shook her head, but did as the boy asked.

Natsu sighed as he felt that biting cold seeping back into his being. The pain clouded his mind and he kept walking until he found a ledge that he collapsed on. Being in the snow and ice reminded him of Gray. Tears entered his eyes at the thought that he would be broken-hearted for the rest of his life. Dragons only had one mate that they chose in their life. Once chosen by the dragon's heart, nothing could change it. He would always love Gray, and long for him.

The pain would only cripple him the longer he lived. The mate that he had chosen would never be his. He was taken by another dragon. He couldn't reverse it, no matter how much he wanted to. Even Gajeel couldn't do anything about it. Natsu's heart was suddenly gripped with a huge amount of pain. He cried out into the freezing air and clutched his chest.

He knew what was happening, but was powerless to stop it. He was just glad he had secluded himself from anyone.

~O~

"What's happened?" Wendy asked with a frown. Gajeel sighed.

"The greatest pain a dragon can go through," he responded. Wendy gasped, putting a hand over her mouth as tears formed into her brown eyes. The guild became silent.

"Who?" Wendy asked the older. Gajeel subtly looked at Gray quickly, who was making his way over to the pair. Wendy let out a sob. "No."

Gajeel pulled Wendy into a hug. He knew it was uncharacteristic of him, but this wasn't a normal situation. Makarov pushed his way to the two.

"What happened?" he asked. Wendy turned to look at the older man. She gave a sniff before answering.

"Natsu's in too much pain. Soon he's going to to lose control and his dragon instincts will take over," she responded. Everyone frowned at that.

"What triggered it?" Makarov asked. Wendy gave a watery sigh before responding.

"Dragons chose one mate in their entire life. That mate is everything to them. It's not predestined or anything. A dragon will give their heart and soul to the mate they chose," Wendy explained. Makarov frowned.

"What does this have to do with Natsu?" he asked. A sob came from Wendy and she buried her face into Gajeel's side. He allowed an arm to wrap around her.

"Natsu's mate has been chosen. But there's a problem. The one he chose, he can't have," Gajeel said, looking away with pain in his eyes.

"Why can't Natsu have his mate?" Lucy asked. Everyone was curious. Gajeel took a deep breath to hold back his emotions. No one knew how close dragon children were. They hid it most of the time. Gajeel hid his emotions behind his iron resolve.

"Because Natsu's mate became my mate first," he responded. Erza gasped. Everyone looked to Gray, who's eyes were wide in shock.

"W-what?" he stuttered out. Gajeel sighed.

"We can't change anything. Natsu can never have Gray. Dragons are fiercely loyal to each other. Instead, it slowly kills the dragon," Wendy said, facing everyone once more. Makarov's eyes widened at the fact that one of his children might die. And there might not be anything he could do about it.

"Well, I know where he is," Mira said. Everyone turned to her.

"You know where he is?" Wendy asked, slight hope entering her being. The mage nodded.

"I just got a lacrima call from the client. He's finished his mission. But he went back to the mountains saying that he had forgotten something up there," she said.

"Shit!" Gajeel ran his hand through his hair.

"What?" Gray asked, voice shaky.

"Natsu either went to die as the grief was too much. Or his instincts knew when he was going to lose control. Meaning his human side would be lost," Gajeel explained. He didn't want to see his brother suffer. But he didn't know what to do.

"What can be done to help him?" Makarov asked. Wendy shook her head, and Gajeel didn't speak.

"W-we don't kn-know," she sobbed out, tears spilling out of her eyes.

~O~


	3. Fire Dragon

Gildarts found himself in the snowy mountain but he couldn't figure out why. The dragon he was looking for wouldn't be up here. He sighed and just kept walking. He didn't know how long he wandered but he eventually came up to one of the ledges. He saw a body crouched over and frowned. It was too cold for anyone to be up here. Then again, he himself was up here.

He took a step forward, but stopped when he heard a growl. Suddenly the figure stood up and spun to face him. He gasped as he saw that it was Natsu. What was he doing here? And what had happened to him?

Red scales covered most of his skin, and his eyes were red in dragon fury. His fangs seemed slightly longer and he had slight claws protruding from his fingertips. His clothes were ripped and tattered from the fierce winds up here. Gildarts held his hands up in surrender.

"Chill out kid. I don't want to hurt you," he said. Natsu stopped growling, but eyed the man suspiciously. It seemed that the boy didn't recognize him, for some reason. Gildarts knew he had to bring the little dragon back to Fairy Tail. Glancing at Natsu's body to see if he was injured, he noticed that a light blue frost had started to cover the remaining skin and the scales. It started at his navel and seemed to be spreading almost too slow to see.

"What are you doing here, human?" Natsu growled out. Gildarts sighed softly. He figured he should probably lie to the other, not knowing how much his words were actually true.

"Your family misses you," he said. Natsu frowned in confusion.

"Family?"

"Yes. The other dragons. The iron dragon and the sky dragon. They want you to come home to them," he said. Natsu took a slow step to the human. His family was worried about him? He couldn't remember much of anything right now. Except that one of them had hurt him without realizing it. When he tried to remember why, his head ached and throbbed in protest. He guessed he should go see what had happened to make his family worry.

Natsu nodded and reached out his hand, reluctantly trusting this human.

~O~

Fairy Tail was just starting to figure out who should go find Natsu when the doors burst open. Gildarts came in carrying a boy covered in a shiny red. At a second look, though, it turned out to be scales.

Natsu was back!

"What happened to him?" Wendy asked, looking protective of the one in the older man's arms.

"I was roaming the mountains on my mission when I found him. I knew I had to take him home. I don't know how, but a frost has started at his navel. It seems to be spreading slowly," he explained. Wendy gasped and went to go take the dragon child, before Gajeel stepped forward and took him instead.

Without a word, Gajeel took him to the infirmary with Wendy not too far behind the duo. They gasped when they truly saw him. Suddenly the frost spread a little bit, going nearer to his chest. Natsu arched his back off the bed that he had been put on, and let out a roar-like sound of pain. Wendy allowed a tear to slip down her cheek at the sound.

Everyone downstairs heard the sound and winced at the amount of pain was in the cry. Gray felt like this was somehow his fault. He felt like he could've done something, but didn't know what. It tore him apart emotionally, knowing that he could cause Natsu more pain.

~O~

Within Natsu's mind, Natsu was surrounded by blackness. It felt like a thick fog that wanted to suffocate him. He wandered around, not knowing what to do. Each step felt more difficult than the last. He felt so cold. But he was a fire dragon's child! He was pretty immune to cold. Right?

A rumbling shook him out of his thoughts as pain blossomed at his navel and seemed to spread. Looking down he could see a glowing light. It was the only source of light within this realm of darkness. The pain seemed to slowly grow, the light slowly moving nearer and nearer to his heart. Right before it hit his heart, it stopped. He looked up when he saw a dim light in the distance.

It looked so fuzzy and warm. He had to get to that warmth. He had to get away from that cold. He had almost reached the light when he suddenly heard a sobbing echo around him. He frowned.

"N-Natsu! P-please d-don't l-leave m-me beh-hind!"

It sounded so familiar. His frowned deepened in concentration as he tried to figure out who it was.

"You better not die on me, Natsu!"

That voice was different from the first, but still familiar. Suddenly he remembered what that man from earlier had said.

 _"Your family misses you."_

His family?

 _"The iron dragon and the sky dragon. They want you to come home."_

Iron and sky? Suddenly two images popped into his numbed brain. Blue-haired Wendy and a scowling Gajeel. That's it! Their names were Wendy and Gajeel! He turned to the warm light. He could feel how good the warmth was. There was only coldness behind him. And pain.

"P-Please, b-big b-brother!"

That snapped him out of his thoughts. And he knew what he had to do.

~O~

Wendy was sobbing over Natsu's body. Gajeel had his teeth gritted together in a useless effort to stop his own tears.

"P-Please, b-big b-brother!" Wendy cried out. The dragon children saw each other as family, though it was mostly unspoken. They couldn't lose their big brother.

Suddenly Natsu shifted. He didn't wake up, but he reached out to them. Trying to find one of them. Wendy immediately grasped onto Natsu's hand. Slowly she started to feel his heart beat stronger and stronger. The ice retreated a little bit. It didn't disappear though.

A gasp sounded from the boy on the bed as he opened his eyes, slowly. The lights were dim, which he was thankful for. He saw the other two dragon children through blurry vision.

"What happened?" Natsu asked. Wendy sobbed in relief that Natsu hadn't died. Gajeel was barely containing his own emotions.

"You almost died on us," Gajeel responded, looking away from the other two. His voice was soft, but full of repressed emotion. Natsu didn't say anything, but soon noticed that he had red scales covering his body almost completely. He frowned.

"Why do I have red scales?" he asked. Gajeel finally turned to the dragon child on the bed.

"You lost control," he said. Natsu's eyes widened. He lost control? That wasn't good! Did he hurt anyone? He hoped not. He would never be able to live with himself if he hurt someone. Gajeel seemed to read his thoughts. "You didn't hurt anyone. You ran into the mountains. Gildarts found you while he was on his mission and brought you back here."

"Oh thank god I didn't hurt anyone," Natsu said. He had absently been rubbing up and down Wendy's back in comfort. The exhausted little dragon fell asleep on the bed next to Natsu. It was silent as Natsu watched Wendy sleep.

"I'm sorry," Gajeel suddenly said. Natsu frowned.

"For what?" he asked. Gajeel took a deep breath before answering.

"I didn't know you had chosen Gray as a mate. I wouldn't have allowed myself to get close to him," he said. Natsu let out a silent sigh.

"Don't worry about it," he said. Gajeel's eyes widened as he turned to look at Natsu again. He didn't even know when he had turned away.

"Don't worry about it?" he echoed. Natsu shrugged. "Don't worry about it?! Don't tell me to not worry about it! Because of me, you won't ever have a mate!"

"Don't blame yourself," Natsu said. Before Gajeel could speak, Natsu continued. "It's my own fault for not realizing it myself sooner."

"Realizing sooner?" Gajeel asked, confused. Natsu smiled sadly.

"I didn't realize I had chosen him until a few days before your announcement. I had realized that I had fallen in love with him years ago, but didn't figure it out until not too long ago. It's my fault, really," Natsu explained. Now Gajeel felt even more horrible. He wished he could help. As much as he loved Gray, he felt that Natsu somehow loved him even more.

And the worst part was, that nothing could be done to change it.

~O~


End file.
